Boeing wins $250 mln deal for missile defense work

WASHINGTON Feb 2 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) won a $250 million contract to support the U.S. ground-based missile defense system in calendar year 2009, and an option for 2010, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Boeing was "the only qualified source to perform this effort without unacceptable delay to critical program schedules and unaffordable duplication of costs," the Pentagon said in explaining why it awarded the contract without competition.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency last week announced that it planned to open the support work to competitive bids no later than calendar year 2011. It said the new Boeing contract was needed on an interim basis until the terms of the competition could be mapped out. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Bernard Orr)